


dont fear the reaper

by BoredFox



Category: South Park
Genre: Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Not Beta Read, Reapers, Sad, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 23:41:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17253578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoredFox/pseuds/BoredFox
Summary: psy·cho·pomp/ˈsīkōˌpämp/noun: psychopomp; plural noun: psychopomps; noun: psychopompos; plural noun: psychopompoi(in Greek mythology) a guide of souls to the place of the dead.the spiritual guide of a living person's soul.The psychological definite of psychopomp is a mediator between the unconscious and conscious realms.Kyle is a reaper. Kenny dies a lot.





	dont fear the reaper

**Author's Note:**

> Idk man, welcome to my angst thoughts. 
> 
> I didn't have anyone read over it and I barely edited it.. Thought of it when I heard the blue öyster cult song, and I kinda just wrote what I felt. Not sure how it ended up here. I know I have other things to work on, but honestly??? Idk where my mind's at.

Hit by a bus this time. A really corny way to go, a common cause of arbitrary death in fictional literature, but at least it wasn't as corny as when he had been stabbed in a cornfield by some weird ass Children of the Corn fuckers. Bad pun, sure, but that's the best kind. The kind that makes too-serious redheaded psychopomps have to try and hide their snickering.

No snickering today, though. Kyle wasn't amused by the scene that had just unfolded; Kenny had died like this more times than either could count. It was routine. They didn't speak, Kenny just followed him from one place to another, wherever that place was, knowing he wouldn't remember until the next time. He never does, and finds that quite ironic.

He watched Kyle in front of him, intrigued by how something so otherworldly could look so human. His features showed no difference, unlike the small handful of similar beings Kenny had dealt with before him. No dark wings, no skeletal form, not even oddly colored eyes (no, they were some foresty color, sometimes green and sometimes brown, and Kenny was fascinated). Kenny wouldn't have been able to tell the difference if he hadn't been through this song and dance so many times.

\---

Sometimes Kenny wondered how he knew who or what Kyle was, but when he questioned it, Kyle would give him a harsh look and then he would develop a headache. If he asked a question, the information would come to him the way the headache would, but only if Kyle wanted to answer.

"What happened?"

He died. Again. This time from hypothermia.

"What is this place?"

In the rift.

"What the hell is 'the rift'?"

No answer.

Kenny pouted. Kyle turned around and crossed his arms. He wanted to treat Kenny like a child? Fine. Kenny sat down and glared at the redhead. Unfortunately this tactic did nothing but delay his revival an entire two weeks.

There's no real concept of time in the rift, turns out. No solid imagery, either. It's whatever you perceive it to be. Kenny has seen it as a lot of things, but lately it's been a forest, much like the ones surrounding the town. They walk on the air just a few inches above the path, toward the cave that would serve as the entrance to whatever afterlife Kenny was to be thrown into this time.

He didn't really want to go, but he didn't really have a choice. Kyle stood aside, let him pass through.

\---

Kenny sometimes wondered if Kyle was personally assigned to him. It would make sense to assign a specific person to him, wouldn't it? Especially since he died so much. Once upon a time, Kenny would have a different person (or occasionally animal) guiding him each time. But since he spent six month dead dealing with some angel war, Kyle had been the only one.

Kenny didn't think he'd get an answer if he asked.

\---

Kenny isn't dead at this very moment. He's at Stan's house with Butters and Cartman, and they're watching one of those stupid ghost shows. They're impressionable middle school kids and are eager to do anything rebellious, so they make a Ouija board out of the side of a cardboard box, despite not knowing anything about how they work.

Stan asks if anyone is there, and the planchette (which they also made out of cardboard) moves to "yes." Butters is immediately unnerved, and Cartman says it must be just Stan or Kenny moving it.

Then it spells "shut up fatass." Stan and Kenny laugh, and Cartman gets pissed and storms out. Butters apologizes to the spirit for Eric's behavior, because Butters is a kind soul. Then he asks its name.

"Kyle."

It strikes a chord with Kenny, something just out of reach of his memory. He feels elated to be communicating with this "Kyle," despite having no idea why.

He hears Stan and Butters talking, but doesn't really know what they're saying. Mentally he asks, "where are we?" For the life of him, he doesn't know why, but he gets and answer he doesn't expect.

"The rift."

\---

"What the hell is the rift?"

"Gee, Stan, I dunno. We didn't ask nothin' about no rift."

"I know, we asked where he was from. Hey, did you see Kenny blank out? Like he didn't say anything."

"Well, Kenny don't really say no whole lot anyway. Maybe the ghost scared him? Kinda scared me at first."

"Maybe, but he usually freaks out a lot more when he's scared."

"Huh."

Kenny heard the whole conversation, but he felt like he dreamt it. There were no visuals, just a black void with audio. He looked up and saw Kyle there in the darkness.

"Am I dead?"

Kyle smiled. Not yet. High fever.

They were all going to get sick, but only Kenny would have any severe symptoms. He spent two days in and out of consciousness, and could sometimes see Kyle, but wasn't ever awake enough to think coherent questions.

He opened his eyes once to see Kyle holding out a hand to him. He took it, and let himself be guided into the rift. Kyle didn't let go of his hand this time.

\---

Kenny didn't like dying, not at all. But he liked Kyle.

Butters and Stan had tried using a Ouija board to contact Kenny while he was dead and got Kyle instead. Kyle had told them that Kenny was elsewhere, and explained that Ouija boards don't have caller ID, and you just get whoever is around.

He told them more than he had ever told Kenny; that he himself isn't quite sure what he is, just that his job is to guide the newly dead, specifically Kenny, to their afterlife if one or another has a claim on them. He didn't really know why. He just did his job.

His job description didn't include consoling friends who turn to the occult for coping, but he thought Kenny would appreciate it if he tried to teach them to do so safely.

They promptly forgot it all after Kenny revived.

\---

Kenny was starting to catch glimpses of him in the corner of his eye every now and then. It was usually just before he died. Sometimes it would cause paranoia, other times comfort.

He had some truly traumatic experiences in high school. Shot, stabbed, shot again, overdosed, thrown off a roof, overdosed again, ritually sacrificed a total of three times, and then shot. Again.

He could see Kyle clear as day now. Sure he was a bit high, but the redhead was definitely there. Confirmed by Tweek seeing him as well and tripping over his own feet.

Tweek knew, though. He had always been able to see Kyle. Tweek was generally pretty stoned too, but Kenny hadn't told Tweek, he brought it up on his own.

"Y'know there's some sorta, s-some sorta reaper following you, right? Hasbeen for ages?"

Kenny was shocked, but not surprised. He still couldn't remember the rift while alive, but he knew of it. Kenny couldn't actually hear Kyle when alive, apparently, but Tweek could. He could at least translate the headaches without having to be dead.

Through Tweek, Kyle told him everything. About his curse, about the rift, about the various afterlives and how they all look to be the one to finally claim the boy who keeps dying. He told him about his job, that he wasn't necessarily assigned to Kenny specifically, but rather had chose to stay.

Because Kenny is a moron who needs supervision, he claims; because the others are sometimes fickle and dangerous.

Tweek seems to think that perhaps Kyle just has a crush on Kenny, and that's why he stays. For a while Kenny didn't know how to feel about that. He tried asking occasionally, when being transported through the rift, but he either got silence or a crushing migraine.

\---

High school was over. All his friends had gone off to college. Tweek wasn't there to translate anymore.

But he could see Kyle all the time now.

That was good. Supposed to be, anyway. But he still couldn't really communicate while alive. Though, it had been a while since he last died.

He thought about it occasionally, but Kyle didn't seem to approve.

It wasn't just that, though. Kenny didn't feel he had much to hold on to in life anymore. Like everything was sand slipping through his fingers.

He cried, and when it was done, he held out his hand to Kyle. Kyle was crying too.

He took his hand, kissed him, and lead him into the rift for the last time.


End file.
